State, Yokohama leaders make partnership official

A host of Mississippi and Yokohama Rubber Company officials gathered at the Ritz Conference Center earlier today to announce the company's plans to construct a new manufacturing plant on the Prairie Belt Powersite in Clay County and officially sign a memorandum of understanding.

The Mississippi House and Senate approved a $130 million incentive package Friday during a special session that drew the global tire manufacturer to the Magnolia State. Once the first portion of the plant is built in 2015, the company plans to create at least 500 jobs for bus and truck tire manufacturing. In all, the four-phase project is expected to create at least 2,000 jobs once construction on the entire plant is complete in 2023.

"I always knew we could do this," Bryant said. "There were some challenging times because there was a lot of tough competition out there. There were many states that fought hard for this and wanted this great factory. There's one thing I promised (Yokohama representatives): Mississippi will not let you down."

For a full article on today's announcement, see Tuesday's edition of The Commercial Dispatch.